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great once you get through the pain.

I have been shaving my legs for years, going for the occasional wax for special occasions and what not, I decided I wanted a change from shaving so I got the Braun epilator.

The first thing I came across was that I had to get an adapter plug to be able to use it, which I was not expecting.

The first time I used the epilator, I wondered why I ever wanted one in the first place. The stinging and soreness from using it would be enough to put anyone off using it again, but I did. I have been using my epilator every other week for the last year, it is amazing how quickly I got used to the sensation and hardly even notice it now. The majority of the time, my legs are completely hairless now apart from the odd hair.

I am very happy that I decided to keep going with the epilator as you can see the results quite quickly and there is no need to shave every other day.

A downside to using the epilator is the ingrowing hairs that I get if I don't exfoliate my legs thoroughly, but keeping on top of it soon solves that problem

This epilator is not for anyone with a weak pain threshold, perseverance is the key.

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don't waste your money, learn how to wax instead

I've been waxing my hair for years, but honestly had gotten bored of the ordeal of waxing arms, legs and under arms once a month, and needing to wait for my hair to grow back to a suitable length before i could wax again, and as such looked into epilators.

To be honest, i bought this epilator because it was on offer and no other reason. The epilator itself has 20 tiny tweezers that grab your hair and rotate, pulling your hair out of your skin. It comes with a massage head and two speed settings. Braun also provide a small brush, used to clean the epilator, and the epilator is powered by mains electricity.

I decided to epilate after i showered as this would open up the hair follicle. When i turned on the epilator i found that it makes a horrible loud noise as the tweezer head rotates. You are supposed to roll the epilator along your skin, opposite the direction of hair growth and as i did this it started pulling out my hairs one by one. It took about 3 rolls until the same patch of skin was completely hairless.

I didn't find the pain unbearable, but it was more uncomfortable that i have ever found waxing, i think due to the fact that the hairs on my leg were being pulled out one by one. Also i noticed that when i ran my hand over my leg, it didnt feel completely smooth, but there was the odd stubbly bit here and there. The epilator had not pulled out all my hairs, but had snapped them leaving part of the hair behind.

After epilating, my legs did not look smooth and silky but red and raw, and small bumps had formed all over where the hair follicle had been ripped out. After about an hour the redness had gone away but i was not too impressed.

I tried again two weeks later to get the same result, and i also had started to develop ingrown hairs that i had never had before. This is truly money wasted for me and i do regret buying it. My epilator sits in the back of my cupboard gathering dust while i wax my hair away from now on.

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not good

After hearing how Braun is renowned for it's epilators i thought i'd invest. The usually sell for about £60 at most stores such as Boots. I found this a bit too pricey so i bought a new one from ebay for about £20. It's quite small in size but not too small. It comes with a main adapter which is quite annoying as you always have to be near a plug socket if you want to eplilate. The actual epilator itself has a 20 tweezer system with a massage system which it supposed to reduce the pain of epilating. It also comes with two speed settings; one slower one for first time epilators and a second one which is faster for those who are more used to the pain of epilating. It's been known that epilating causes ingrown hairs so i purchased some ingrown hair lotion to stop that.

When i first began epilating it tingled at first but then when it caught a hair it was painful. Not just a small amount of pain it was probably the most painful I've ever experienced. It was especially painful under the new and on the back of the legs. I consider myself to have a high pain threshold but this was too painful for me to deal with. The massaging rollers made no difference whatsoever to the pain. Once i had finished one leg it felt like my leg was on fire. Worse was it removed about 5 hairs so overall not at all worth the pain. I don't really recommend this to anyone a waste of money in my opinion.

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Good for beginners to have a practice, but not something I'd recommend!

I bought this for around £22 from Amazon as I find shaving laborious and, although I like the finish waxing gives, I didn't want to wait weeks until my legs got hairy to wax them again!

I bought this particular model as it had good reviews, however was still quite cheap to say I was an epilator beginner.

The product itself comes in a standard box with the epilator, a guide head, the plug to attach it to (it isn't battery powered so is operated from the mains - a bit of a pain as the wire can get in the way) and a small brush to clean it.

I must say, when I first switched this on to speed 2 (the highest speed), I was terrified! It makes such an awful, loud noise that sounds like it's going to mince your legs. However, after being a coward for a few days, I finally decided to try it.

I tried it straight from the shower (after I'd dried myself) as this opens up your hair follicles, making the hair easier to remove. I did as the manual instructed and put the epilator on my leg, keeping the guide flat on my leg and moved upwards in a slow motion. This turned to quick bursts of slow motion as it was quite painful - definitely not for those who have a low pain-threshold!

It took about 20 - 30 minutes to just do the front and sides of my legs, however I did keep having short pauses to stop the pain becoming too much.

Unfortunately, I found a lot of downsides with this product personally. I found that you had to go over one area more than once sometimes to get all the hairs, which was more painful due to the area already being sore, however having the hair at an 'optimum' length may have helped (not long enough for waxing, but not short enough for shaving, about 4-5 mm perhaps). Also, I found that sometimes the hairs would 'snap' instead of being lifted from the root, leaving your legs covered in small black dots (the root of the hair), as well as pink, raised bumps from where the hair had been plucked out!

Overall, I wouldn't buy this product again, and would probably invest in a better epilator!

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A great product to start with if you have some patience and can bear noise, the results are worth it

I brought this product for around £45 from boots when it was on offer. I felt it was a worthy investment, as it claims to provide me with smooth legs for up to 4 weeks, without having to go to the salon and paying each time. This was the first epilator I have owned, so I felt it was perfect to start with, as it offered less tweezers and a low speed to allow you to get used to the sensation.

I was nervous before I used it, but found the sensation barely painful, if at all. It just made my skin a bit tingly. Braun recommend using the epilator in the evening, when you are most relaxed, making the process less painful, and allowing for redness that develops to disappear over night. I opted for the afternoon on a day off to give myself longer for any redness to go down. However, after using the product, I only had a few red bumps come up, which subsided within the hour.

The main downside to this product is how long it takes to achieve smooth legs. The first time I used it, I only managed to epilate my legs only up to my knees before the noise of the epilator got too annoying. This took me about an hour. It is quite a loud product to use. I found the slower you go, the better the results, as otherwise you ended up going over the same area of skin to get remaining hairs. However, I haven't braved the faster speed setting yet, which may cut the time it takes.

I found the product ineffective at picking up some of the finer hair growth on my legs, so I resorted to shaving these, although as they are fine hairs, they do not grow back quickly. It has now been about 3 weeks since I first used the product, and my legs are still smooth, with no signs of regrowth, which is fantastic. I feel although it was a time consuming process, the results were worth it, and I will carry on using this product on a regular basis.

I think this is a good product to start with if you are new to epilation, as it only has 20 tweezers, compared to 40 on other products, allowing you to get used to the sensation, as well as two speed settings. However, I will soon be considering one of Braun's other products.

I found this product tries to reduce the pain sensation with its massage rollers, which is a definite positive. The product is also easy to clean, the brush provided helps massively. The only thing worth mentioning, which isn't made very clear, is that it comes with a 2 pin plug, meaning you will have to buy an adapter to use this product in the UK. This product isn't suitable to be used in water, and can only be used when plugged into the mains. While this is a bit of a restriction, the cord is sufficiently long enough so you can find a comfortable place to use the product.

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Good results. Pain less of an issue with time.

I was bought this as a present. I don't feel that I am such a hairy beast that I deserve to be inflicted with this instrument of torture. It takes a lot of psyching up to use this product. In some ways the pain is more prolonged than waxing. It comes with a cool pack but I found this made very little difference and did not really numb things much. Taking a couple of painkillers beforehand seems to ease things a little but that might just be my imagination. From the pain point of view things do get better the more you use it. It's quite easy to use and has different heads for underarms and bikini line. It gives good results and less regrowth with longer hair free intervals than shaving. It does give the pesky ingrown hair problem though. I think overall it probably saves time wasted shaving. It's probably easier than struggling with home waxing kits but given the chocie I would probably opt for a professional waxing or alternative hair removal methods over this.

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you get what you pay for

I bought this a few months ago from amazon, specifically because of the price and the fact I wished to try an alternative longer last form of hair removal other than shaving or the funny smelling creams. I am fairly happy with this product, but you really do have to grin and bear the pain, because it hurts!

-=Advantages=-

I am happy the product comes with various setting and adjustments so you can find the setting that works for you, I also like the colour and design, it appears less daunting than alot of other products I have seen.

The hair removal really lasts, I found myself after my first use on my legs that the hair on my legs was significantly reduced along with the grow-back.

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Unfortunatly like most alternative hair removal products this thing hurts, and I find its on personal preferance wether you would use this again, if you can grin and bear it.

-=Overall=-

You get what you pay for. Don't expect miracle hair removal, but expect some decent results if you keep in mind the lower price tag.

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Shave instead at least that doesn't hurt.

Spring in springing and it's time for my legs to start reappearing from under the layers that have been covering them over the winter. While being covered in hair helped keep my legs warm during the colder months, it's not really that good a look when teamed up with a skirt or pair of shorts. So it's out with the fuzzy look and in with silky, smooth legs that just cry out to be touched. In all honesty, I haven't actually let my leg hair run wild over the winter, but have recently been experiencing a flare up of a skin condition, that has left me unable to use a razor and it has become a little unruly. So while considering my options, I remember the epilator that I bought last summer, I can't think why I abandoned it all those months back.

The epilator in question is the Braun Silk-Epil Soft Perfection, a basic, mains powered contraption that is primarily designed to rip the hair out of your legs. While the instructions do say that this can be used under your arms and in the bikini area, but why anyone would subject themselves to that kind of pain is beyond me. The pastel green instrument of torture is formed in a shape that is extremely comfortable to hold, so while extended sessions may bring tears to the eyes, it won't make your hand ache. The supplied power cord is about two meters long, so you don't need to sit on the floor next to plug socket, but it's not long enough to tie your victim down while you make them suffer. Unfortunately the power adapter is of the two pronged variety, so you will need a shaving adapter.

Once plugged in, there are two speeds available, slow and fast. Apparently you should use the faster speed over larger, less sensitive areas and the slower speed for the more sensitive areas such as the knees and ankles. But as far as I'm concerned there's only one difference between the speeds and that's how long it hurts for. I swear on the slower speed I can feel every single hair being ripped from it's comfortable home, while with the higher speed it's a less defined pain. There are also two, non-removable green massage bars that look almost as scary as the twenty pairs of motorised tweezers that make up the epilator. As I cannot remove them or move them out of place, I really can't say whether these massage bars actually help reduce pain. But I can say that they give a good idea of whether you have the epilator correctly positioned on your leg.

To use the epilator is simplicity itself, plug in switch on, then move it up your leg against the direction of hair growth and the epilator will remove all that fuzz leaving you hair-free for up to six weeks. Sounds so simple and fuss-free doesn't it? In reality I don't find it anywhere that easy. Firstly there's the noise, imagine starting up a lawn mower in your front room, and then you have an idea how loud this is. It's so loud that it drowns the TV out and it's impossible to hold a conversation while using it, which is a shame because a little distraction would really come in handy.

After switching on my ears are already telling me that I really don't want to do this, meaning that bringing the epilator into contact with my legs for the first time is a tentative affair. Big mistake, if you're wishy-washy with this and take your time getting it into contact with the hair, it will hurt even more as it rips the hairs from their tips. The only way I could manage to use this was to grit my teeth and jump straight in. Even then it hurts, and I mean really hurts, if you've ever had your legs waxed it's a little like that, only waxing only hurts for a second, this hurts for minutes as it takes so long to go over an area. Having given birth to five children, I would like to think I have a fairly high pain threshold, but I can only ever manage to epilate half my leg before having to take a break. Hey, I'm someone who slept through a tattoo, so I'm really not a wimp, but I really struggle to inflict this epilator on myself. And while the fleshy parts of the legs are painful, bony areas are on a completely new scale of torture. Ask anyone, who's had a tattoo on their ankle and they'll tell just how sensitive the skin there is (the nerves are nearer the surface). The ankles and knees may be relatively small, but when epilating they account for fifty percent of the eye-watering pain and because the hairs grow in all sorts of directions on my knee I have to go over them several times, ouch. So if you don't like pain, then epilating is not for you.

Once I've finally finished epilating, which can take anything up to half an hour depending how many breaks I need to take, I'd love to say my legs are silky smooth and begging to be stroked. Unfortunately, they're anything but, instead they are hot, red and covered in little bumps, so I generally need to use a cold flannel to cool them. Once they've gone back to their normal colour my legs do look hair free, but when stroking them I can still feel stubble. So much for six weeks of hair-free legs. Of course this isn't actually the epilators fault, well not completely anyway. The epilator's tweezers can't pick up the very shortest of hairs and as hair has a 6-8 week growing cycle there are always going to be some that have only just started peaking through. One way I could have avoided this problem was to have waited eight weeks before epilating, but I really couldn't bring myself to let my legs get that hairy. The only other solution is to go over my legs everyday so that the epilator catches those stray hairs as soon as they get long enough.

Now either my hair has super powers and grows at a ridiculous rate, or the idea that using an epilator will keep my legs hair-free for six weeks is complete baloney. Personally, I need to go over my legs at least every other day to keep them feeling silky soft. I must say that it doesn't hurt nearly as much if I do this as there are only a few stray hairs removed each time. It's also much quicker, taking just a couple of minutes to go over both legs. But, should I leave it a week, I end up having to go through the extremely painful process of removing lots of hair. Another problem that I have using this epilator is in-growing hairs, which from what I can tell, is common when using any epilator, so I have found myself having to exfoliate more. I also find that my legs require far more moisturiser, and it's best to not use a highly fragranced moisturiser as they do make my legs sting. (Lush Dream Cream works best for me, soothing and moisturising).

Once I've finished torturing myself, this epilator is easy to clean, the rotating tweezer section unclips and the supplied brush does what it's supposed to and allows me to brush the hairs from where they have collected. Obviously as this is an electrical device it cannot be immersed in water, but it's perfectly happy to be wiped with a damp cloth. Talking of hair, I would suggest sweeping or vacuuming after you've used this, as it does tend to fling all those hairs it pulled out about a bit (especially if I let them grow a bit).

I paid approximately £30 for my Soft Perfection last summer and it's now available in Boots for about the same price. Once I'd got over the pain of epilating my legs for the first time, I did use this every couple of days for about a month. By doing this, I did manage to minimise hair growth, but if I left it more than a couple of days, my legs would start getting noticeably hairy again (I am cursed with thick, dark leg hair though), and I would have to go through a painful session again. I've just started using it again after a winter of shaving and I'm afraid it's every bit as painful as I remember. So I'm not really sure that I can in all honesty recommend either epilating in general or this epilator. As far as I'm concerned it's the most painful hair removal method I've tried almost like the pain of waxing, but lasting for far, far longer. So I'm going to give the Braun Silk-Epil Soft Perfection two stars out of five, because while it does do what it's supposed to, it's noisy and painful, with results that just don't last as long as I would have expected.

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Product Details

Braun Silk Epil SE3170 promises gentle hair removal!The 20 tweezer system gently removes hair at the root for smooth skin for weeks.The SE3170 features 2 speeds extra gentle and extra efficient.20 Tweezer System The epilation head comes with the 20 Tweezer System for easy results. It gently removes hair at the root / for smooth skin for weeks.Speed Personalisation With all Silk-pil epilators you can choose the right speed for your individual needs: Speed 1 for extra gentle and speed 2 for extra efficient epilation.